We are year round homeschoolers. We keep a steady schedule which in turn keeps the kids on routine.It’s a great way to deal with the push autism gives them to need that sameness. When summer comes though, we do like to change up our homeschooling a bit to be less formal.
Year round homeschooling also allows us to get lessons done while it’s crazy hot and peoplely to be outside. Is peoplely a word? It is now.
It also means when everyone goes back to work and the weather is cooler, we can go outside to play.
Our Summer Homeschooling Routine
- We use a morning basket. The idea is to have time to prepare yourself in a calming and group engaging way. We use this as our Bible time and silent reading time. Everyone gets coffee and a snack while soft praise music plays.
- Reading for half an hour a day. This is a normal part of our homeschooling. We like to add in a summer reading challenge to make it more exciting. You can find these at libraries, bookstores, or even make your own.
- We keep to a routine. It isn’t time sensitive but sort of like a regular flow of the way our day goes. This keeps the neurodivergent people in the house who need a routine happy while also keeping the neurotypicals in the house who want to relax happy as well.
- We focus on the weakest subject for each child. They get mom/dad’s full attention and quiet privacy to work on the subject or skill that needs to the most help. This can be accomplished with games, videos, projects together, whatever. It all depends on what subject we are working.
- Lots of hands on and physical work! We do all the science experiments we didn’t get to in the school year. All those art projects, math games, or fun things we just had to pass over in order to keep on schedule. This reinforces what they already learned so there’s no “summer slide”.
- We go swimming a lot. We have a membership to our local country club’s pool from May to October. We go every single day after lunch. Nine times out of ten there is no one there. Moms with littles will be home napping. Moms with older kids are still at work. It’s a win for us. I use this time to let them relax, get their sensory needs met, as well as working on their sibling relationships.
Do you homeschool year round?